AB 900 Groundbreaking in Calif.

AB 900 Groundbreaking in Calif.

(12/15/2010)

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. — An assortment of state and local dignitaries gathered outside the city of Adelanto for a groundbreaking ceremony that was held for the expanded Adelanto Detention Facility, which will add 1,368 new beds to the maximum-security facility. The project is being funded by a combination of lease-revenue bonds — made available by AB 900 — and county funds.

“This is a historic day for California and for San Bernardino County,” said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The passage of AB 900 was a major step in improving the safety and conditions for inmates and staff in our prisons, and I am pleased to see the construction moving forward. Projects like this one will provide much needed breathing space in our prisons and jails, and I look forward to many more groundbreakings taking place in the future.”

The Adelanto Detention Center project will total approximately $120 million in construction costs. $82 million of that will come from AB 900 and the remainder will come from taxpayers in San Bernardino County. The facility is staffed by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.

“I am pleased to join San Bernardino County in beginning construction of California’s first AB 900 jail project this year,” said Matthew Cate, secretary and corrections standards authority chair with California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “The Adelanto jail expansion and the upcoming Secure Reentry Facility will increase public safety for California’s residents.”

The construction project marks the first local jail construction and fourth AB 900 construction project to be launched this year as a result of the passage of AB 900 in 2007. In November, CDCR and California Prison Health Care Services broke ground on a 1,722 inmate medical facility located southeast of Stockton. In June, CDCR broke ground on a 64-bed intermediate-care mental health facility at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville and on a 45-bed acute/intermediate-care mental health facility for female inmates at the California Institute for Women, in Chino.

Completion of the Adelanto Detention Center project is slated for June 2013.